UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Couple told Elvis no name for a girl

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 4 (UPI) -- A Swedish couple has been told that Elvis is not an appropriate name for a girl, at least in Sweden.

The couple said that they picked the name because they like the sound, The Local reports. The most important quality they wanted in a name for their daughter, now 5 months old, was that it be gender neutral.

"We talked about lots of names and then Elvis popped up," the mother told the newspaper Metro. "We thought it was a name that was both pretty and gender-neutral. We're not Elvis Presley fans at all."

The National Tax Board disagreed, telling the parents that Elvis "is a first name of a masculine type."

Last year, a couple that picked the name Metallica for their daughter was allowed to keep it after a long fight with officials.

Python found in Hawaii home

HONOLULU, June 4 (UPI) -- Investigators in Hawaii are trying to determine how a 2-foot-long ball python got into a house on Oahu.

A resident said the snake was coiled in a bucket in the bathroom, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.

Snakes are illegal in Hawaii, where they have no predators and could become major threats to native birds. Fines for importing them or owning them can run as high as $200,000 although the state grants amnesty for snakes turned in voluntarily.

Ball pythons can grow as big as 6 feet.

"It's kind of small, considering how big it could grow. Coiled up it's the length of a magic marker," said Janelle Saneishi, a spokeswoman for the agriculture department.

The python is destined for a reptile farm in Florida once the investigation is completed. It is luckier than an injured python discovered last month on the Big Island, which was euthanized.

Ball pythons are native to Africa and are popular pets.

Alligator finds home at humane society

LOS ANGELES, June 4 (UPI) -- An American alligator has turned a short visit into a decade-long stay at a Los Angeles-area humane society.

The 7-foot-long, 100-pound reptile was left homeless in 1998 when a traveling wildlife education exhibit closed and Tina was taken into the private Pasadena shelter in what was thought would be a temporary arrangement. But large zoos said they had no room for her, and interested petting zoos were deemed unsuitable, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

"I think visitors are surprised when they see her," said Hillary Gatlin, the Pasadena Humane Society's community resources assistant. The alligator is found near a row of Chihuahuas and across from the cages of terriers. Her defenseless pet neighbors reportedly have nothing to fear since Tina eats only a few store-purchased, uncooked chickens a week.

Tina has become "part of the family," Gatlin said. Because she depends on humans for food and is not used to interacting with other alligators, she can't be released into the wild and will be forever captive, shelter officials told the Times.

Police nab 'adorable' fake doctor

ATLANTA, June 4 (UPI) -- An Atlanta hospital is investigating why it took so long to blow the whistle on an "absolutely adorable" man who spent weeks allegedly posing as a doctor.

Police arrested Eric Perteet, 27, after a security guard found him in the emergency room at Piedmont Hospital dressed from head to toe in surgical garb, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Perteet had been a fixture in the hospital for at least six weeks, hanging out in various waiting rooms, doctor's lounges and the library, the report said.

"It's very clear he was here to hit on women," says Diana Lewis, hospital spokeswoman.

Lewis says some of the hospital's female staffers described Perteet as "absolutely adorable."

However, he wasn't able to charm everyone.

"I know in talking to the nurses in the emergency room they found it irritating that a supposed doctor was reading magazines while they were busy," Lewis said.

One of those nurses was responsible for reporting Perteet to hospital security.